2012 AD100: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

A Manhattan husband-and-wife architectural team whose achievements have garnered them numerous prizes (including multiple recognitions from the American Institute of Architects), Tod Williams and Billie Tsien design serenely monumental buildings, both residential and commercial, composed of powerful materials used with great sensitivity. Panels of white bronze surface the American Folk Art Museum in New York City; a towering slab of limestone, looking something like a sculpture by Louise Nevelson, acts as a privacy screen for the glass façade of a townhouse. The structures are dominant but quiet, oases of intellectual calm to keep the world’s cacophony at bay. The firm’s eagerly awaited Philadelphia home for the relocated Barnes Foundation debuts later this year. twbta.com